Troubled Carnival Triumph breaks loose from Alabama dock

By Erin Mulvaney

Updated 3:13 pm, Wednesday, April 3, 2013

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013 photo, crew members watch the activity on the dock after the Carnival Triumph was towed to the cruise terminal in Mobile, Ala.

Photo: John David Mercer, .

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013 photo, crew members watch the activity...

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013 file photo the cruise ship Carnival Triumph is towed into Mobile Bay near Dauphin Island, Ala., Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. A leak in a fuel oil return line caused the engine-room fire that disabled a Carnival cruise ship at sea, leaving 4,200 people without power or working toilets for five days, a Coast Guard official said Monday, Feb. 18, 2013. (AP Photo/Dave Martin, File)

Photo: Dave Martin, STF

FILE - In this Feb. 14, 2013 file photo the cruise ship Carnival...

The Triumph arrived last week at the Alabama Cruise Terminal in Mobile, Ala.

Carnival Triumph, which was docked at a Mobile shipyard, broke away from its moorings because of strong winds, the cruise line confirmed Wednesday.

The troubled ship has drifted and is currently resting against a cargo vessel, according to Carnival Cruise Line. Tug boats and the U.S. Coast Guard are on site.

In February, an aft engine fire left the Triumph dead in the water after a leak in the diesel-fuel return line sprayed onto a hot surface and caught fire.

The blaze left the 893-foot ship drifting in the Gulf of Mexico about 150 miles from the Yucatan Peninsula. Eventually, three tug boats brought the ship to the Alabama port. The ship made national headlines as the 4,200 passengers and crew members were left without power and working toilets.

Some of the passengers reported a shortage of food, left with only onion sandwiches. Because of the lack of power, many slept in makeshift tents on the deck. Bags were used as bathrooms. Among the worst reports from the ship were of sewage running down the walls and floors, making the vessel smell so foul people reportedly were vomiting.

The vessel then drifted 90 miles north, and Carnival officials determined that Mobile was just as close and would not force the ship to go against the current.

Just before the ship set sail from Galveston on Feb. 7, repairs from previous electrical issues had been completed. The alternator supplier completed the work on Feb. 2, and that incident has not been linked to the Feb. 10 fire.